Benjamin Robin Hood (born 10 June 1980) is an Australian politician who was appointed a member of the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the South Australian House of Assembly, H ...

in February 2023, representing the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. He replaced retiring member

Stephen Wade Stephen Graham Wade (born 28 March 1960) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council serving between May 2006 and January 2023, representing the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party ...

Early life and career

Hood grew up in Naracoorte. He is a director of Hello Friday, a web and branding development agency. He co-created the children's character George the Farmer. A musician and illustrator, Hood wrote and performed all George the Farmer’s music and illustrated and designed all the educational brand’s picture books. In June 2018, he was named one of ''

InDaily Solstice Media is an Australian publisher based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 2004, it was known for publishing the weekly tabloid newspaper ''The Independent Weekly''. Solstice publishes ''InDaily'', which was initially the onli ...

s inaugural "40 under 40".

Political career

Hood has served as a councillor and deputy mayor for the

City of Mount Gambier The City of Mount Gambier is a local government area centred in Mount Gambier in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. While it is the southernmost ''city'' council in the state, the District Council of Grant is the southernmost counci ...

and as an inaugural board member of Landscape SA Limestone Coast. He stood as the Liberal candidate for the House of Assembly seat of

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with a population of 25,591 as of the 2021 census. The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier (volcano), Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about ...

in the 2022 election but was unsuccessful against incumbent independent

Troy Bell Troy Delvon Bell (born November 10, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other leagues mostly in Europe. He is also a R&B producer. He was an All-American college player at ...

. Hood was one of two candidates to fill the Liberal vacancy in the Legislative Council after the early retirement of former Health Minister

. Opposition leader

David Speirs David James Speirs (born 15 December 1984) is a Scottish-Australian former politician and convicted drug dealer, who was the Leader of the Opposition in South Australia and Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party from April 2022 until ...

pushed for a woman to fill the spot, and reportedly told Hood "he did not have his support, would have limited promotion and warned of a strategic blunder" by not continuing to seek a seat in the lower house. Hood is aligned with the Right faction of the party. In August 2023, Hood was elevated to the Speirs Liberal opposition front bench as Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional South Australia. In late 2024, Hood introduced legislation to ban late-term

abortions Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnanci ...

. On 16 October 2024, The

narrowly voted down the bill, 10 to 9.

Personal life

Hood is married to Ellen and they have three children. He lives in Mount Gambier. His sister

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

is the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

References

{{SACurrentMLCs Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of South Australia 1980 births Living people 21st-century Australian politicians